Video: Army specialists wed in Cambridge while on leave from Iraq

Tuesday

Jan 27, 2009 at 12:01 AMJan 27, 2009 at 11:43 PM

For Timothy Williamson and Jessica Padgen, it wasn’t exactly love at first sight. But the two Army specialists on leave from Iraq had more than “rest and relaxation” on their minds Monday afternoon when they were married at City Hall.

Katrina Ballard

For Timothy Williamson and Jessica Padgen, it wasn’t exactly love at first sight. But the two Army specialists on leave from Iraq had more than “rest and relaxation” on their minds Monday afternoon when they were married at City Hall.

When Williamson, of Cambridge, who works as a mechanic for the Army, and Padgen, of Long Island, who works as a medic, first met a year and a half ago when they were stationed at Fort Drum working together in the same company — the 277 Aviation Support Battalion. They didn’t exactly get along.

“We clashed — we’re the same person,” Padgen said. “I’m a Yankees fan, and he’s a Red Sox fan, so there was automatic tension.”

Now, Williamson, 23, and Padgen, 24, are both serving in Tikrit, Iraq, in the 10th Mountain Division and the 10th Combat Action Badge. They began dating before they went overseas, when their feelings toward each other began to change.

“I guess we were just in the right place at the right time,” Padgen said. “I started falling for him.”

The newlyweds said their relationship during active duty was affected by factors that civilian couples do not have to encounter. When they were first deployed, they were separated for a month.

When the couple returned to the same location, their schedules still made seeing each other difficult, Padgen said. But having each other’s support made their tasks easier. She said Williamson provides her with the “push” she might need at times.

Williamson said he and his bride did not have any privacy during deployment, but these hardships never spawned any doubt between the couple about their relationship.

“She does a lot for me,” Williamson said. “She takes care of me, and I like to think I do the same for her.”

Williamson said he proposed to Padgen this past Christmas Eve. He almost got “cold feet” at the time, but he said he knew Padgen would say yes. The couple could not plan their wedding right away because of the spontaneous nature of the Army.

“It’s exciting they got the opportunity,” said Kelly Allen, Williamson’s aunt. “They both applied for leave at the same time, and they were lucky enough to get it.”

Padgen said she hopes she and Williamson will be able to spend more time together when they go back on Feb. 5. However, the couple is unsure whether they will be able to live together while they are deployed.

Military couples are “very prominent,” Padgen said, because a relationship with two people in service is easier than someone in the Army dating a civilian back home.

Williamson said he and Padgen will go on their honeymoon to Disney World next November, when they return from deployment. He said the couple plan to live in Cambridge when they are out of the Army in 2013.

There were 11 guests present at the ceremony, including Williamson’s grandfather, James Williamson, a Marine Corps veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars. Padgen, whose parents could not be present at the wedding, said the couple had met each other’s families before they came home to be married.